Chap. II. to the EAST-INDIES, 
Majority of Voices. The Directors are not allowed to un- 
dertake any Trade but the Commerce in the Eaft-Indies, 
upon the Company’s Account, without the Confent of 
the Members thereof. And lefs ft ill (ball they difpofe of, 
or lend the Company’s Money to any Perfon whatfoever, 
for which they are to be anfwerable in folido , in their own 
Name and Eftate. They fhall take an Oath of exaCt Ob- 
fervation of this Article, and for a faithful Adminiftration 
of the Affairs of the Company, for the common Benefit 
and Advantage of the Members thereof. All the Mer- 
chandizes which fhall be fold in any other Place than Co- 
penhagen, fhall be paid in the Bank at Hamburgh, to one 
or more Merchants, and moft fubftantial Traders, for the 
Company’s Account. Thefe Merchants fhall be chofen, 
and appointed in a general Court, by a Majority of Voices, 
and in no other Way, upon any Pretence whatfoever. 
The faid Merchants, or Cafhiers, fhall pay no Money, 
but upon Orders, figned by three or four of the Direc- 
tors at leaft. The Money to be paid this Year, fhall be 
at the Difpofal of the prefen t Directors, till the new ones 
to be added to them are chofen. The Money arifing by 
the new Subfcriptions, fhall be laid out, in fending Ships 
to Tranquebar, Bengal and China , and for no other Ufe 
whatfoever. No more Money fhall be kept in Cafh, than 
what will be neceffary for the fittingoutand fending of Ships, 
as in the preceding Article. A general Court of the 
Company fhall be called as foon as poffible, in order to 
chufe four new Directors, out of the new Subfcribers, who 
may be all Foreigners, &c. 
6. Upon the Publication of thefe prodigious Advan- 
tages, granted to the new Company for carrying on a 
Trade to the Eaft-Indies from Denmark , there followed a 
great Confternation in Holland , where they began to fuf- 
peCt, that all the Pains they had taken in deftroying the 
Oftend Company, was meerly thrown away, and that this 
new Eftablifhment in Denmark , would prove as prejudi- 
cial to their Intereft, as the former, which they had fo 
much dreaded. They began therefore at Amfterdam, Rot- 
terdam, and all the great Cities in the United-Provinces, 
to decry the new Company, and at the fame Time, they 
formed a Procefs againft M. Van Afperen, whom they 
condemned and executed in Effigy. But they foon found, 
that this did not anfwer their Purpofe, and therefore they 
had recourfe to other Methods. 
They difcovered that this Gentleman had written in very 
ftrong Terms to his Friends, both in Holland and in Great- 
Britain, to follicit them to fubfcribe into the Capital of the 
Company at Altena , upon which they had recourfe to the 
Anfwers of thefe Letters, which they framed in the belt 
Manner they could, for the anfwefing their own Ends, and 
then caufed them to be publifhed in all the Englijh and 
Dutch News-Papers, that they might the more effectually 
fpread their Objections to this new Company, and thereby 
difappoint the Labours of M. Van Afperen , and the Di- 
rectors, to procure Subfcriptions. In thefe Writings they 
infmuated, that the old Eaft- India Company in Denmark 
was actually become Bankrupt, and that there vs as but 
very little Reafon to confide in the Priviledges granted to 
the new. But it will be beft to give thefe Objetions in 
their own Words, that the Reader may judge of them 
with a greater Certainty, and therefore we will make as 
fuccinCt an Extract of them as poffible, reducing their Ob- 
jections under four Heads, concerning which they exprefs 
themfelves in the following Manner. The Reader is to 
obferye, that thefe Objections are delivered as froni a Cor- 
refpondent of the Projectors, in Anfwer to what he had 
written in the Favour of the Company at Altena . 
Firft, That thefe Articles, tfio’ to Appearance fuffici- 
ently inviting, are not to be depended upon under arbi- 
trary Governments, efpecially as long as the Words Vifa 
and Liquidation are in Memory *, and all agree, that the 
Reafon why other Nations lodge large Sums, and conti- 
nue them in the Funds of free Governments, is, that they 
are fecure by the eftablifhed Laws of thofe Countries. Se- 
condly, That they think the Word and Honour of two 
Directors, as expreffed in the laft of the thirty-eight Ar- 
ticles, fs but a flender Security, or Guaranty for the old 
Company’s Debts, being no more than one hundred and 
fixty thoufand Rixdollars in Specie, more- efpecially, when 
3 
they refledt, that one of the two Directors* tho 5 now a 
Count, and honoured with a white Ribband, is the fam c 
individual Perfon, who, during the late War witj ^France, 
became a Bankrupt, for upwards (as was then faid) of fix 
Millions of Florins, and fled by Way of this Country in- 
to England, for Protection ; but fo foon as the Queen was 
apprized of his Situation, that he was not perfecuted by 
the Court of France , as he pretended, but profecuted by 
his fair Creditors, for large Sums he had defrauded them 
of, and brought away with him ; the good Queen, tho* 
at War with France , and altho’ he had been naturalized 
in Scotland, before the Union, withdrew her Protection 
from him ; whereupon he came over here again, and fet- 
tled at Vianen , where it Coft him, as you may remember, a 
great Sum of Money for a Protection j but he was fo clofely 
followed by his numerous Creditors, with the Affiftance of 
the States-General , that not finding himfelf fafe any longer, 
he. fled into Denmark, where he found both Protection 
and Honour. Now, fay the People here, and in Eng- 
land, this fame Man being the Author, Prompter, and 
principal Manager of this new Scheme, we will never ven- 
ture our Money in fuch Hands, to make a Jobb for him. 
Thirdly, I find it objected here, by all who know the 
Eaft-Indies , that there is a great Demand upon the old 
Company in India , and particularly in the Bay of Bengal, 
for a large Ship which they formerly feized, with a full 
Lading, bound to Surat, carried her off, and fold both 
Ship and Cargo at Tranquebar, for which the Moors drove 
them off, and they have not appeared there fince. This 
Debt alone has been computed at three hundred Rixdol- 
lars in Specie, feven Years ago, and will be demanded by 
the Government, and muff be paid with full Intereft up- 
on Intereft, at the Rate of twelve per Cent . per Annum, 
according to the Cuftom of the Country, before they will 
be permitted to trade again in that Port, and this Account 
is confirmed to be true by feverai Perfons here and in 
England, that have refided in Bengal, fome of them at 
the very Time when the faid Ship was taken and carried 
off. 
Fourthly, *tis objected, That there can be no Profit 
made equal to the Hazards a Man muft run of various 
Kinds, befides thefe before mentioned. And thus having- 
freely given you the unanimous Opinion of all that I have 
talked with, or wrote to on this Subject, - which is exaCtly 
agreeable to my own Way of Thinking, I hope you will 
not give yomfelf, nor me, any farther Prouble on thi^ 
SubjeCt , and, before I conclude, as you have been mv 
old Friend and Acquaintance, I cannot help faying, I wifli 
you would retreat in Time, and endeavour to obtain For- 
givenefs for the Injuries you have endeavoured to do your 
own native Country, in Defiance of the Laws in being- ; 
for nothing can be plainer, than that this new Schemers 
principally intended for Stock-jobbing, and to draw the 
ready Money of other Nations into Denmark , at ail Events 5 
but when it comes to be underftood, that all, or moft of 
the Profits, that can be made on this Scheme, belongs to 
Foreigners, whenever they want to call the Profits°and 
principal Money Home, I leave you to judge of the 
likelihood there is, that publick Faith will be maintained : 
You cannot forget what was done in Miftifippi, when they 
found the Money was going out of the Kingdom. 
It was hoped, that by the publifhing thefe Objections, 
Subfcriptions would have been flopped, and that the new 
Company of Altena would have funk of itfelf, or, to fpeak 
with greater Propriety, would never have made any con-, 
fiderable Figure, or have been capable of carrying its Plan 
into Execution, or of fending fo much as a fingle Ship to 
the Indies ; but it fell out quire otherwife, notwithftand- 
ing what was publifhed on this SubjeCt in England, France 
and Holland . 
7. As foon as this was perceived, and it was certainiv 
known that the Danifh Eaft-India Company was actually 
preparing to fend Ships to the Eaft-Indies , agreeable to 
their Plan, and to the Power given them by their Charter, 
a Refolution was taken by the Maritime Powers, to act in 
Concert in this Affair, and to endeavour to deprive the 
new Company of their foie Support, which was his Da- 
nip Majefty’s Charter of Incorporation. It was with th> 
View that Orders were fent to the Minifters of Creak 
Britain 
